15–16

PART 4—WHAT WE DO
• The office held regular liaison meetings
with regulators, the Australian Skills
Quality Authority (ASQA) and the
Tertiary Education Quality Standards
Agency (TEQSA), to discuss common
issues as well as the Tuition Protection
Service (TPS), the Department of
Education and Training and the
Department of Immigration and Border
Protection (DIBP) to discuss issues
relating to international education and
overseas student complaints.
Looking forward
In April 2016, the government released
Australia’s first National Strategy for International
Education 2025 and the AIE2025 Roadmap,
which envisages Australia’s welcoming 720 000
international students each year by 2025. The
strategy notes the OSO’s role in supporting this
growth by ensuring strong student protections.
As the international education sector
continues to grow, the office expects to
see a continued increase in complaints. The
office wants to find out whether the current
complaint arrangements meet students’ needs
and whether any changes could be made to
strengthen or simplify student protections.
The office will have commenced that process
before publication of this report by releasing a
consultation paper on the external complaints
avenues for international students.
Case study
A student complained to the OSO that her
private education provider had cancelled her
enrolment while she was overseas on holiday
during the mid-year break. She was informed
at the airport when she attempted to re-enter
Australia that her visa had been cancelled.
It seemed that her private education provider
had informed DIBP that she had not paid
her tuition fees and had therefore cancelled
her enrolment. The student contended that
she had paid her fees and should be allowed
to continue studying.
The office found that the student had in
fact paid her fees but had not labelled her
bank transfer with sufficient identifying
details. This meant that the provider was
unable to establish that the bank transfer
was hers. Some instalments were also paid
several weeks late, but the provider had not
followed this up with the student.
In addition, the office found that the
provider had not notified the student
in writing of its intention to cancel her
enrolment for non-payment of fees, nor had
it offered her an opportunity to lodge an
internal appeal against its decision. This is
a breach of Standard 13 of the National
Code of Practice for Registration Authorities
and Providers of Education and Training to
Overseas Students 2007 (the National Code).
The office recommended that the provider
update its cancellation policy to ensure that
in such cases in future a letter is sent to
the student, inviting him or her to appeal.
The office also recommended that the
provider follow up on all outstanding fees
in a timely manner and revise its fee policy
to document this process.
Finally, the office recommended that the
provider reinstate the student’s enrolment
while it conducted an internal appeal, and to
inform DIBP that the student’s enrolment had
been cancelled in error.
54 | COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN ANNUAL REPORT | 2015–16